Trump’s New Travel Ban
On September 24, 2017, the Trump administration imposed new travel restrictions on foreign nationals seeking to enter the United States from eight countries: Chad, Iran, Libya, North Korea, Somalia, Syria, Venezuela, and Yemen. Starting October 18, 2017, the travel ban applies…
USCIS Moves Cases Between Offices to Balance Workload
A recent email from USCIS: From January 5 through March 28, USCIS began sending some cases between service centers in order to balance workloads. We have updated our Workload Transfer Updates page with this information: Some Forms I-765, Application for…
Employers Should Review Form I-9 for Social Security Number Glitch
We received the following email from the USCIS about a form I-9 glitch: If you used Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, that you downloaded between Nov. 14 and Nov. 17, 2016, review them to ensure your employees’ Social Security numbers appear correctly in…
USCIS Reminds Beneficiaries of Temporary Protected Status for Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone of May 21 Termination
USCIS is reminding the public that the designations of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone terminate effective May 21, 2017. To provide sufficient time for an orderly transition, the Department of Homeland Security gave beneficiaries under…
New Redesigned Green Cards and Employment Authorization Documents Starting May 1, 2017
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced a redesign to the Permanent Resident Card (also known as a Green Card) and the Employment Authorization Document (EAD) as part of the Next Generation Secure Identification Document Project. USCIS will begin issuing the…
Big Surge in Citizenship Applications Expected under Trump Administration
For the past six years, I have been a featured speaker and volunteer at the Plano Multicultural Outreach Roundtable (MCOR) Citizenship Workshop. The workshop always draws a large number of future citizens but this year, we saw three times as…
Travel and Refugee Ban Suspended For Now
By court order, the travel ban and refugee ban are suspended for now. However, the Trump administration has appeal the court order. Basically, the federal judge’s ruling in favor of the states of Michigan and Washington, temporarily stops the any…
DOS Alert: Executive Order does not restrict the travel of dual nationals from any country with a valid U.S. visa in a passport of an unrestricted country.
The Department of State, which is the agency responsible for processing visa applications outside the U.S., posted this alert yesterday: “The U.S. government’s national security screening and vetting procedures for visitors are constantly reviewed and refined to improve security and more effectively identify individuals who could pose a threat to the United States. We welcome every opportunity to continue to review and improve our systems and procedures. As a result of this executive order, the Department of State has temporarily stopped scheduling appointments and halted processing of immigrant and nonimmigrant visa applications for individuals who are nationals of Syria, Iraq, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen. This Executive Order does not restrict the travel of dual nationals from any country with a valid U.S. visa in a passport of an unrestricted country. Our Embassies and Consulates around the world will continue to process visa applications and issue nonimmigrant and immigrant visas to otherwise eligible visa applicants who apply with a passport from an unrestricted country, even if they hold dual nationality from one of the seven restricted countries. Please check with your local Embassy or Consulate for country specific information.” In other words, if you are national of banned country…
I-9 Form Alert: USCIS issues New Guidance for Employers on Automatic Extensions of Employment Authorization Documents
For those that qualify, an employment authorization document (EAD) gives immigrants permission to work for a specific period of time, usually one or two years. For continued work authorization, workers should apply for renewal 180 days before the EAD expiration…
The Rumors Are False. There is No Expansion of Travel Ban to Other Countries.
“Fake news” has been circulating that the travel ban and visa revocations have been or will be expanded to other countries. In response to these rumors, the Department of State (DOS) recently told the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) that…
